Japanese business leaders welcomed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday for its diversity, saying the new lineup includes more women, also urging him to push forward measures to contain rising prices.
Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, the country's most powerful business lobby, also known as Keidanren, said in a statement that he has "high expectations" for the "diverse lineup."
Kishida's appointment of a record-tying five women as ministers is part of the government's efforts to promote women's empowerment in politics.
His government has also called for raising the ratio of female board members to more than 30 percent by 2030 at companies listed on the top-tier Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In Japan, firms lag behind the United States and European countries in promoting women to managerial positions.
Takeshi Niinami, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, a major business lobby, meanwhile, said the government needs to reverse the falling trend of real wages, with the figure in July marking a decrease for the 16th straight month.
"(An increase in wages) has not kept up with soaring prices," Niinami said in a statement, urging the government to implement more effective measures immediately.
He also called for cutting the cost of electricity and rectifying the existing system in which take-home pay of part-time workers decreases when their salary exceeds a certain amount due to the need to pay social insurance premiums.
An official at a semiconductor company urged continued government support for the industry as Kishida tries to revive the country's once-powerful chip industry.
"We hope the government helps us maintain our competitive edge by providing support for areas where Japanese companies are leading players," such as image sensors, the official said.
Ken Kobayashi, head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed hope that the new Cabinet will tackle the reputational damage to the Japanese seafood industry following the discharge of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
